


You May Say I'm A Dreamer

by thunderstormsablaze



Category: All Elite Wrestling
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Fluff, M/M, but thats not very surprising now is it, darby is dumb, kisses under the stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29959905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderstormsablaze/pseuds/thunderstormsablaze
Summary: Darby can't live like this, not trapped within the palace walls. He has to escape, get someone to take him far far away never to return.
Relationships: Darby Allin/Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley
Kudos: 7





	You May Say I'm A Dreamer

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Imagine" by John Lennon.

Thick stone walls, they should feel protective, comforting like a warm hug. Instead, they're a cage, suffocating, trapping him in his fate. Crown prince Darby doesn't know why he feels that way, most people would kill for the life he has. Come to think of it, a number have tried. They want to live a life of luxury, be protected from the world. But not Darby.

Darby dreams of freedom, to sprout wings and fly away from the confinement of the castle. He wishes he could shift into a fish or a shark or a dolphin, dive into the water and never be seen again. Free spirits like him don't do well stuck in one place their entire lives. Staying in one place will kill him one day, but he has his duties as prince within the walls, he can't leave.

Yet every night he longs for it, standing outside on his balcony and looking down at the ocean for hours. The splash of salt water on his face, not nearly enough, barely able to keep him sane. He knows he needs to get out, there's much more for him. He knows he can't leave, but he needs it. Long ago he promised himself he wouldn't cry, but that night he doesn't know what the saltiness on his cheeks came from. 

The next morning there's a commotion in the courtyard, Darby hurrying down to be a part of it. It's a dream come true, having been so long since something interesting happened, he can't afford to miss it. Hanging to the edge of his sanity, this may be something that could help tug him back together, at least a little bit. At least he hopes. 

Upon entering he shoves his way through the guards, coming face to face with a large burly man with a bag over one shoulder and revolver in his other hand. The man looks at him in shock for a moment before frantically shoving past, running into the sea of people assembled to watch the commotion. Darby scrambles to get himself together as he chases after the man, desperately needing to get more blood pumping.

It's been forever since he had a good adrenaline rush, the last time when he slid down the banisters with the staff chasing after him three years ago. Ever since they've kept such a close eye on him he wasn't able to do anything fun. But this, this is fun. Everyone's more distracted by the man than they are concerned about him. He intends to make the most of it.

Years of fleeing the guards left Darby with intimate knowledge of everything about the castle, passages he doubts even the oldest guards don't know. He takes advantage of that, slipping through hidden corridors and through trick doors, seeking, needing the freedom. Darby didn't recognize the man, so he must be traveling through; the virtue of being prince means he knows everyone in their city no matter how old, young, meaningful, insignificant.

Darby gets to the palace docks before the burly man, he's not surprised, he's small and fast and knew the castle better than the man ever could. So he waits in the shadows for the clamouring of the guards and the ginger man running to the strange ship at the end of the pier. Darby rushes out and towards the strange ship, ready to sail off into the sunset. 

Sure the man could be a creep, some crazy murderer who didn't care about his well being, but Darby's willing to take that risk. As long as it means getting out of the castle. He's gotten a taste of freedom running through the halls and he can't give that up. He won't give that up. Because giving it up means spending the rest of his fucking life in the cell and there's no goddamn way that's going to happen.

But he's too late. Darby wants to scream, shout at the world for being so cruel. The man had a clear lead, would have been able to make it to the ship and escape with Darby, but another wave of guards came from a place near the dock. They captured the big man, dragging him away to the dungeons. 

His world spins upside down, the sea above him while he stands on the stars, floating, lost. He doesn't know what to do now. The boat calls to him, but Darby doesn't know how to use it, not to mention he can't leave the owner behind. Palace tutors skipped over how to sail a boat, probably because they knew if they taught him he would leave immediately. 

Darby waits a few minutes, hoping most of the guards would clear out, before he walks across the stars to the dungeons. He forces the world right side up again, landing on the cobblestone of the dungeon, and walks past the guards. They don't think much of it, Darby often goes to the dungeons to get away from everything, and he plans to use that to his advantage. 

Spotting the larger man, Darby walks over to the cell, sitting outside it and staring up at him. He gets a raised eyebrow in response and Darby sighs, "I'm Darby. I know you're going to be hanged tomorrow, that's what they always do to pirates like you. But I can help you escape if you tell me stories of the sea. And take me with you far far away."

A beat of silence, "fine." Darby grins and moves closer to the cell, resting his elbows on his knees and looking up at the burly man. "I'll tell you a few stories, and then you get me out of here." He gets a nod in response and sighs quietly, starting to talk.

He paints pictures of the open sea, of freedom. Crafting cities shores away, the whirls of color and culture Darby never knew. He's swept up in the tales, drinking in every aspect of them, dreaming himself there. Letting the words bring him to places he never thought he would see.

All of a sudden he's in one of those cities. The name evades him, distracted by the smells of street food, exuberant markets with exotic goods, performers sweeping him away. Darby stares in awe, mouth hanging open as he looks at things he's never even dreamed of. This is what he's been missing, caged inside the castle walls. Now more certain than ever he has to break free.

He does his best to explore, though it's difficult with the limited information given to him. Where the landscape should be only a bright light; where shops should be only streaks of colour. But it's enough to be somewhere else, somewhere he knows is real outside the walls. That the world isn't just the castle, there's things worth living for outside. 

Too soon he's brought back to his body, blinking open his eyes and looking at the burly man who's stopped talking. Darby shakes himself out of the daydream, blushing faintly under the stare as his lip twitches up in a smile, "thanks," he mumbles, getting up, "I need to get a few things for the plan to work, I'll be back soon… what's your name?"

"Jon." Darby nods and takes one final look back at the prisoner- Jon- before leaving. It doesn't take long before he finds what he needs, the servants hadn't gotten around to folding the laundry yet. Just as well, Jon would probably prefer something clean to wear. The thought only occurs to him then, he doesn't know what size clothes to get for him. Oh well, it won't be for that long. Darby grabs one of the larger sizes and tucks it under his cloak, bringing it back to the dungeon.

Taking a look over his shoulder to make sure no one's looking, he slides the guard uniform through the bars of the cell. Jon gives him a blank stare before sighing quietly and pulling it on over his clothes. Meanwhile, Darby pulls out the key he stole from the guard as he walked by, unlocking the cell door. As Jon leaves, Darby shakes his head and adjusts the uniform so it's accurate, redoing some of the buttons and straightening out the chains.

It forces them closer and Darby fights back a blush, biting his lower lip so he doesn't say something stupid. He never thought about attraction before, always knew he would be married off to some princess in a far off land for political reasons, but now that he has a taste of freedom he craves more. The lure of the other man, Darby doesn't know if it's because of the dreams he offers or if there's something more, but he knows there's something.

So before he does anything stupid he steps back, looking Jon up and down under the pretenses of checking the uniform one last time before he deems it passable. "Follow me," he mutters, walking out of the dungeon and past the guards at the front. 

He's been around long enough to know these guards were asleep when the initial commotion happened, so they wouldn't recognize their prisoner. Merely thinking he's guarding Darby. And while it's rare for the prince to keep a body guard around, Darby's pretty sure they think it's because of the robbery earlier. But no matter the reason it works out for their benefit.

Darby takes Jon to the docks and they're almost at the boat before someone notices who it is. Shouts fill the air behind them and the sound of men rushing around, and Darby curses. He grabs Jon's hand and drags him to the boat, jumping on next to him and looking around the ship helplessly. Hating he can't do anything to help, he doesn't know what he's doing on the boat. 

Jon immediately sets to work, ordering Darby to pull on different ropes as he does the more precise things, getting the ship ready as fast as possible. Darby does his best with the orders, pretty sure he's not doing it correctly but hoping it's good enough until they get out of firing range. Moments stretch to hours as the soldiers get closer, until Jon unfurls the sails and they're off, speeding into the blue ocean.

He knows he should be helping, yet the allure of the surroundings is too much to resist. Darby scampers around the deck, taking in everything, the sight of the castle getting smaller and smaller, rush of wind in his hair and water on his cheeks, waves lapping at the ship. In fact, it's probably for the best Darby doesn't help until he learns more about not fucking everything up, at least that's how he justifies it to himself.

And it doesn't seem like Jon needs help, the burly man handling everything fine on his own, plotting a course, getting the ropes into their correct positions, making sure the ship won't fall apart. So Darby takes in freedom, the first time in his life he's been able to do what he wants. No one looking over his shoulder, nothing pinning him down. He loves it. 

While he doesn't think he can get tired of not having responsibilities, he figures he should go help Jon, or at least see if there's anything he can do. He floats down from the upper area and to the other man, looking around at the mess of ropes. He wishes he could understand what they meant, but it's a foreign language he's never experienced before. 

Jon notices him and looks over, motioning for him to come closer. He starts explaining the ropes to Darby, how each of them move the ship and their importance. Of course most of it goes in one ear and out the other, but Darby thinks he knows a little bit about it by the end. Enough to do some basic helping out when necessary. 

The rest of the day passes in a blur, Jon doing most of the work around the ship and Darby listening to occasional orders he's given. For once, he's happy to obey commands, knowing how much Jon is doing around the ship and that he probably needs help. But the setting sun distracts him, pulling him away from whatever it was he was doing. He wasn't really sure the name, but all that leaves his mind from the sight of the sunset.

His first sunset a free man, he savors the sight of it. It's somehow more beautiful than any other he's seen before, has the brightness of happiness to go with it. He feels a presence behind him and turns his head, seeing Jon looking at the sunset with him. They fall into a comfortable silence, the sun slowly disappearing behind the crashing waves on the horizon as the stars look down on them.

Eventually Darby yawns, exhausted from the long day. Jon chuckles quietly and takes him to the quarters, but the former prince stops when he sees there's only one bed. The pirate rolls his eyes and shoves him onto the bed, kicking off his boots and laying next to him. Cheeks burning red, Darby squirms against the older man until he gets trapped down by an arm. He blushes more but settles against his chest, closing his eyes.

Waking up the next morning, Darby squirms against the warm mass pinning down his arm until he remembers what happened. He blushes again and lays still, unable to get himself free and resigning himself to his fate. Luckily, it's not that much longer until Jon wakes up and rolls off him. Jon laughs at his expression and shakes his head, standing up and stretching out. 

Darby blushes more at the sight of a strip of skin revealed from his shirt riding up and looks away, getting up too and leaving the room. He's not sure how he got to the deck, floating through the walls maybe, but that's impossible. With a shrug he chalks it up to being exhausted and starts following the instructions given to him. 

The next few days pass quickly, a lot of the same, yet everything's different. Darby doesn't know how, the ocean looks the same all around him, but he knows they're going somewhere new. And his heart flutters in his chest when he thinks of the new lands. But something that wasn't in his dreams before appears, the presence of another body beside him. 

Of course he knows who it is, he's spent enough nights sleeping with Jon to know the feeling of being next to him. He thinks he might love him. It's weird, love. Never in any dreams did Darby anticipate love. But it's in this dream, and he finds it comforting. The warmth of Jon, enough to make his knees weak. He hates it and adores it.

Never before has anyone or anything had such a hold on him, but there's something now, and he can't stop himself from falling. Each time their skin brushes sparks fly through Darby, a goofy grin spreads across his lips he has to duck to hide. Because their relationship is good right now, and Darby's scared of making it worse. 

Eventually, they come to the first new place since leaving the castle. Jon does most of the work with landing the ship at the dock since Darby would've crashed it into the pier. But after that's finished, they get off the ship hand in hand, Jon holding onto the smaller so he doesn't lose him in the crowd. Normally, Darby would have complained, but he doesn't mind Jon holding him.

As soon as they get to the market Darby's a kid in a candy store. All the colors, noises, people, like nothing he's experienced before. He loves it. Freedom tastes so sweet, the knowledge no one cares what he does or where he goes. And all the people, so much diversity like he's never seen before. Immediately he goes over to different stalls, looking at the exotic clothes and food, overwhelmed by it all but in the best way.

Darby feels tugs on his hand but he ignores them, too caught up with the newness of everything. Everything at the castle was so plain and boring, dead really, whereas here life explodes from every corner, nowhere untouched by the light. He savors it, bounding over the people to the next thing, watching the street performers defy the laws of motion in their magical acts and dances.

Absorbing everything he can from the market, he talks to as many people as possible. Just getting their stories, no matter how mundane or exquisite. He packs each of them into his mind to relieve later, when the magic of the sea has worn out and he needs something new. Then he has stores of tales to call on, ensuring his days are never bleak. 

All too soon, Darby feels a tug at his wrist. Somehow Jon found him, finished with his shopping for the day and ready to return to the boat. Darby begs to stay for a while longer, he doesn't want this day to end. While he may not be able to turn back time, he can at least draw it out as long as possible. 

With a sigh, Jon relents, getting him to help bring things back to the ship but letting them stay another few hours. Darby grins and eagerly helps with the supplies, wishing, hoping Jon doesn't change his mind. But the other shoe never drops, and they stay in the market until it closes down, and even then Darby sticks around to watch everyone pack up.

The sun sets around them and Darby smiles, the sight of it not muted from the castle walls never gets old. A warm pair of arms envelops the smaller man and he blushes, looking up at Jon who smiles down at him. His heart beats out of his chest, stomach churning. He knows that look, he should push him away, but the selfish part of him says not to. 

Lips press to his own and he grins, pulling him closer as they lift into the stars, bodys pressed tightly together. Darby isn't sure what true happiness is, but if he had to guess, it's this moment. Because nothing could ever top this. 

He blinks open his eyes, the palad gray of the castle walls staring back at him, the dream of a memory lingering on his lips and in his heart. 


End file.
